Sitting All Day at Work, Then Coming Home and PC Gaming

[MustangSVT]

get a GF.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Had one for 10 years. Maybe that's the problem...

 

[Rakewell]

Running is your problem.

Switch to Elliptical... all that pounding in your joints causes swelling.

Also, how often do you stretch?

 

[TheUnk]

Running is your problem.

Switch to Elliptical... all that pounding in your joints causes swelling.

Also, how often do you stretch?

Nah don't switch to elliptical, it's weak sauce in comparison to running.

Try barefoot/minimalist shoes like fivefingers.

 

[Rakewell]

Nah don't switch to elliptical, it's weak sauce in comparison to running.

Try barefoot/minimalist shoes like fivefingers.

True... It may not be as intense as running.

But the OP's problem would be best served by systematically removing factors until he solves his problem, then reintroducing.

 

[thespyder]

Recently I started experiencing back problems, presumably from the amount of time i spend in front of my computer (work, gaming and generaly hobby tinkering). What I did was this:

1) Park my Car far out in the parking lot so I have to walk a distance coming in/going home and to lunch.
2) Get up from my desk about every hour/hour and a half and walk around the office for 5-10 minutes
3) Get out at lunch and walk around campus
4) Three nights a week i go for exercise right from work including cardio and stretching
5) Break from gaming at regular intervals and walk around
6) No marathon gaming sessions on the weekends
7) plan at least one active activity per weekend that doesn't involve sitting down/sedentary activity.
8) Watch diet and eat healty including lots and LOTS of water.

All of this, once you get used to it, takes surprisingly little time out of work or gaming. No more back problems (knocks wood).

 

[Golgatha]

Game less, move more?

Play Kinect games for part of those 4 gaming hours.

 

[Grooveriding]

Nah don't switch to elliptical, it's weak sauce in comparison to running.

Try barefoot/minimalist shoes like fivefingers.

This might help, also if you are out pounding the sidewalk, that is super hard on your ankles, knees and shins. Jogging is really intensive and something I've done since I was in my late teens, so I've really been able to notice the progression as time has gone by on how it affects your body as you get older.

So if you are running outside you can switch it up and buy yourself a good treadmill or use one at a gym. They are significantly better in terms of shock absorption and impact when jogging on one. There are also some gyms that have indoor running tracks with a surface specifically made to minimize shock from your footfalls.

Every Summer when I move back outdoors for jogging I wind up with shin splints I have to nurse through for the first month or so.

 

[coloumb]

At work - take short 5 minute breaks every hour - either walk around stretching or at your desk:

http://myhealth-yourhealth.blogspot.com/2010/12/stretch.html

Take an MP3 player/ipod/etc to work and listen to it while taking a short 10 minute walk outside your office [or away from the office].

Get a Wii, Xbox360, etc - something with motion controls so you are using your body to game rather than sitting on your butt and gaming.

If you can tear yourself away from gaming at night - join an adult recreational sports program - bowling, ice hockey, soccer, etc - a lot more fun than just running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike.

Drink LOTS of water [add flavor to it - propel, MiO, cheap store powdered mix, etc].

 

[QuantumPion]

It's all about posture. Make sure your monitor is at eye level and your back is up against your chair. Don't slouch or lean forward. Occasionally shift positions. I go from my butt being on the edge of my seat with my upper back flat against the chair and legs stretched out forward to sitting straight up with my lower back against the chair and feet flat on the floor.

 

[zinfamous]

I'm a smoker and my wife won't let me smoke in the house. So I'm getting up and outside once an hour anyway, and since I'm going that way why I don't I take out the dogs, trash, ect.

excellent advice.

OP: take up smoking, for health!

 

[DirkGently1]

Eat more meat. The protein will help build up your muscles to support you. Porkchops, steak, bacon, just eat it as much as possible.

Trading a numb arse for life threatening heart disease?

 

[pw38]

I'm a smoker and my wife won't let me smoke in the house. So I'm getting up and outside once an hour anyway, and since I'm going that way why I don't I take out the dogs, trash, ect.

Err, you're not exactly benefiting from going outside if you're just gonna kill your lungs like that. That's like saying I ate a salad today with fattening ranch dressing so since the good salad balances out the fatty dressing I'm good. lol

[edit] What's more disturbing is that you say your wife "won't let you" as in if you had a choice you'd rather smoke indoors. To each his/her own but eww...

 

[grohl]

Do what I do. Before you get home, work out. I drive to the park on the way home from work and run or run/walk at least 4 days a week for 30-45 minutes. Come home, shower, eat, game. No more dead ass.

 

[Regs]

I'm sure big pharma will make a pill for this so called "dead ass" syndrome you speak of.

 

[destrekor]

Eat more meat. The protein will help build up your muscles to support you. Porkchops, steak, bacon, just eat it as much as possible.

lol

Don't give health advice, ever.

Increasing protein and continuing to live a sedentary lifestyle will only create more problems, unless, for some exceptionally rare reason, you have a protein deficiency of some style.

Protein doesn't build muscle. Protein is used by the body to repair damaged muscle tissue after you have torn said muscle tissue. Muscle tissue doesn't tear unless it is strenuously abused, which requires a decent amount of effort.
Muscle mass increases only during/after the use/tear/repair/build phase. If the muscle is not actively getting repaired, there is no chance of muscle mass gain.
If you are gaining weight by doing nothing and increasing protein count, you are gaining fat weight (protein can be stored as fat), and if consuming excess protein, there exists a chance you may harm yourself in other ways (long-term).

Anyhow, what others have stated is pretty much the better advice: get up and move around.

Also, try to adjust your sitting position from time to time. If you change it from time to time, you shift the weight onto different parts of your body and, throughout the course of the day, average it out across a larger zone (with less time focused on a single area).
If you can change the angle of the seat back (relative to seat bottom), adjust height, and adjust tilt... do so once every hour or so.

Also, use one of those breaks (5-10 minutes every hour or two) as a moment to get a little core stability training into your day.
Core Workouts
If they are very difficult, build up toward a minute over time. If you can do a minute, great.
That article gives great tips, and perfect examples.

I haven't read it all, so some might not be well-suited. Generally, their fitness info is spot-on for physiological fitness and nutritional purposes; there is a ton of misinformation out there on these subjects, and some major players have terrible advice (for some it's rare, other places being right is rare).
I can't say whether that article speaks of simple body aches due to posture, but even without building visible muscle mass in the core, you definitely can improve the specific areas of discomfort you would get from sitting (good or bad posture) most of the day.

edit:
The human body isn't exactly best suited for sitting the way we do, period. We may be upright, but sitting isn't the body's best friend. We have tricks to help keep the spine, hips, and legs in the most neutral positions possible, but there are many factors at the individual level that sometimes means it doesn't work out so well. Some people also just have an anatomy that, regardless of proper support, will be destined for discomfort/pain in the future.

 

[MustangSVT]

you obviously need to game more. quit gf and quit work

 

[Skott]

As you get older and gain more weight it gets harder on you. Trust me on that. There are some excellent ideas posted here but you have to take it upon yourself to actually do it. Game less and move more may seem like a funny sarcastic joke but it is actually plain truth. Proper diet and exercise is very important the older you get. Get in the habit of doing it now rather than later and you will be better off for it. Also, just exercising is not enough. You need to get away from the pc for things other than exercise. You need to get out and get fresh air and also be around people. Don't become a shut in type of person that only socializes online. That is not healthy either. It is okay to have friends online but you also need ones away from the pc as well to be healthy I feel.

*You* have to do it though. No one else can do it for you. *You* have to force yourself to do it if necessary.

 

[kalrith]

Play Kinect games for part of those 4 gaming hours.

this

 

[lothar]

Play either Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution.

 

[evident]

use an exercise ball instead of a chair?

 

[coreyb]

strength training bro
not exercise, there's a difference.

 

[brandonb]

I haven't tried it myself and plenty of people already suggested it but try the exercise ball. I work in a call center with maybe 400-500 people, and there are dozens of people using the ball while working all day. There has to be something to it, and it's catching on. More and more people are using it.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

thanks for the continued suggestions everyone. i am going to look into an exercise ball to sit on, i just dont know how big it should be. more research required now...

 

[Skott]

I can just imagine people bouncing around on them at work. LOL Reminds me of that toy one they used to make that you could bounce around on going from place to place as a kid. They were reddish in color if memory serves. Forget the name of it now.